Shorts: Pga, Pca, Nse
The 2023 BMW PGA Championship is set to be the first ever sports TV production powered entirely by green hydrogen.
The DP World Tour event, which takes place at Wentworth Club, Surrey from 14th-17th September, will have zero emissions for its TV production.
European Tour Productions, the DP World Tour’s in-house production company, and its exclusive production and distribution partner, IMG, are working with UK-based clean energy company, GeoPura, to supply two hydrogen powered generators.
The tour aims to be carbon neutral by 2040.
Richard Bunn, Managing Director of European Tour Productions, said, “We are always on the look out for new technologies that will us get to net zero carbon by 2040. Hydrogen is the future of power distribution and has the added benefit of being more resilient than diesel units because they have fewer moving parts. Taking this leap, a first for our industry, at such a high-profile Rolex Series tournament is a big statement. This is just the start, and the plan is to roll-out hydrogen power across multiple tournaments in 2024. We also want to share what we have learnt with our industry peers, as tackling the climate emergency must be a collective effort.”
Mary-Claire Gill, Head of Production for European Tour Productions, at IMG, added, “This is another example of how we’re continually looking to improve the sustainability of our live event production, in addition to introducing remote production for the DP World Tour this year. Not only is this a world-first for sport, but it shows how the media industry can innovate to bring change and both European Tour Productions and the DP World Tour have been fantastic partners with us on this journey.”
Andrew Cunningham, Chief Executive Officer of GeoPura, commented, “We’re incredibly proud to partner with the DP World Tour and IMG to power the TV production of the 2023 BMW PGA Championship with green hydrogen. The tour is to be congratulated for investing in the replacement of polluting diesel generators with our hydrogen power units. This forward thinking not only means saving tonnes of carbon emissions but also improves local air and water quality, creating a better experience for players, spectators, staff and neighbours – all without compromising on the production quality.”
The Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) has extended its partnership with health and life insurer Vitality.
The evolution of the partnership will see all professional players in England and Wales provided with a technically advanced cricket helmet, with the PCA and Vitality will now working with Masuri to supply its TrueFit 3D-PRO helmets to professional players.
The PCA’s partnership with Vitality was initially expanded in 2022 with the health and life insurer securing exposure on the side of player helmets across domestic 50 and 20-over cricket.
Jos Butler, England Men’s white-ball Captain, said, “Having world leading head protection is such a crucial part of the game, especially the way cricket has evolved. Batters are so innovative, and the new modern skillset can only be achieved with complete confidence in your safety so this partnership is a huge development.
“I have been fortunate to already wear the TF3D-PRO helmet and the comfort is certainly the best I have experienced.
”For the PCA to work with Vitality and Masuri for the benefit of player safety is testament to how they support us as a group of professional players, treating everybody as equal with every player benefiting from this agreement.”
NSE has partnered with HoYoverse for the second consecutive year to bring Genshin Impact to university campuses across the UK.
Genshin Impact is an open-world action role-playing game that takes place in the vast magical land of Teyvat.
Throughout the 2023/24 academic year, NSE will run challenges, activities and events as well as giving societies the ability to run their own Genshin Impact events, supported by NSE and HoYoverse.
The previous year saw 20 on-campus events supported where students hosted a range of events such as cosplay competitions, Genshin Impact quizzes and boss battle speedruns.
Alex Coulson, Managing Director at NSE, said, “We are thrilled to continue our partnership with HoYoverse for a second consecutive year, we always aim to further enrich the university experience for UK students and this partnership helps us to do this. Our community loved hosting their on-campus events and we can’t wait to see the enthusiasm and creativity that the university societies will bring to this campaign once again.”
Digital sports platform Fanatics has appointed Andrew Low Ah Kee as the Chief Executive Officer of Fanatics Commerce.
Low Ah Kee most recently served as President of Opendoor, the e-commerce platform for residential real estate transactions. He has also held roles at GoDaddy and KKR Capstone.
Andrew Low Ah Kee, the new Chief Executive Officer of Fanatics Commercial, said, “Sports have the unique ability to build bridges and connections across otherwise divided lines,” said Low Ah Kee. “In joining Fanatics, I have the incredible opportunity to connect my love for sports with my passion for building brands and taking an athlete’s pursuit of excellence to everything that we do – customer experience, product quality and innovation, and our culture – all with the goal of delivering increased value to our fans and partners.”
Sweetspot has appointed marketing agency Orsen as principal commercial agency for the Tour of Britain.
Orsen will be charged with leading the new business sales process across The Tours including securing a title sponsor and generating ‘new and innovative partnerships to enhance the UK’s cycling events.’
Sweetspot is the current organiser of the men’s Tour of Britain, Women’s Tour, and the Tour Series.
Sean O’Reilly, Chief Executive Officer of Orsen, said, “We are delighted to partner with Sweetspot, an organisation that is perfectly aligned with our agency principals of delivering purposeful and innovative partnerships that generate a return on investment.”
Hugh Roberts, Executive Chairman of Sweetspot, commented, “We’re delighted to be working with Sean and his team at Orsen and to have an organisation whose laser focus will be on securing a blue-chip naming rights sponsor for The Tours. Orsen will be tasked with working very closely with the Sweetspot team to develop and grow the business model of the events after the adverse headwinds of the past three years.”
Subscribe to the Sport Industry Daily for regular updates on the biggest stories and latest news in the sport industry.
